Naga flag & constitution key hurdles in peace talks

THE North East News late last month claimed that Thuingaleng Muivah and a seven-member delegation of the National Socialist Council of Nagaland-Isak-Muivah (NSCN-IM) flew in a chartered flight to Delhi to resume talks with government interlocutor Akshay Mishra, adding that a final solution to the Naga political issue was expected by Christmas.

The conversations must have been top secret, as not a whiff was tapped by the media. Recent developments have revived hope, though it could remain so near, and yet so far.

The much-hyped August 3, 2015, Framework Accord (FA), which, according to the September Nagalim Voice editorial, let Prime Minister Narendra Modi claim credit for solving the longest-running insurgency in south and southeast Asia, has merely transited between impasse, given the change of interlocutors — RN Ravi to Akshay Mishra — and claims by both sides of shifts in claims and positions.

The editorial says Naga people will not accept the Naga national flag as a cultural symbol and the incorporation of a part of the Naga constitution into the Indian Constitution. On the ‘Naga Independence Day’ (August 14), Muivah, general secretary of the NSCN-IM, said the national flag and constitution were indivisible parts of a ‘recognised sovereignty and unique history’. This suggests that the flag and constitution are unsettled issues and have not been dropped by the IM, as claimed in some quarters. Other issues on the table are the Naga army, currency, and Nagalim (integration of Naga-inhabited areas into Assam, Arunachal Pradesh and Manipur). The picture is far from clear.

Of the three developments, two are heartening: the involvement of the Nagaland Government and reconciliation between seven Naga National Political Groups (NNPG) and the IM. This would undo any attempt by Ravi to divide and rule by introducing the NNPG, which were not a part of the FA. First, since the talks broke down with Mishra for excluding political points that had been handed over to him by Ravi, a core committee from an opposition-less Nagaland Government (Naga People’s Front) allied with the ruling BJP at the Centre has been trying to get the Naga political process resumed. This, especially, after the IM alleged that it was at the behest of the RSS that the talks were stopped and the NNPG brought in with their ‘agreed position’ of keeping the flag and constitution pending for future to neutralise the IM. Neither Ravi nor Mishra, who resumed the talks with the IM at Dimapur in April that broke down, has unequivocally stated that the flag and constitution are not included in the FA.

Naga lawmakers have urged Union Home Minister Amit Shah to have the issue resolved by resuming talks. The 25 years of ceasefire with the Naga groups and IM was celebrated on August 1 with Lt Gen Amarjeet Singh Bedi (retd), Chairman of the Ceasefire Monitoring Group, attending the event.

Naga lawmakers were browbeaten by Ravi on isolating lawless Naga gangs (referring to the IM) when he was elevated to the post of Nagaland Governor. That created more bad blood, but exposed the IM. Recently, the IM was attacked by Naga legislators, especially Deputy Chief Minister Yanthungo Patton, who said: “The IM leaders do not want solutions as they enjoy comforts of life with public money.” Patton asked the IM to take it or leave it, triggering a war of words, with the IM saying: “They should not overstep their role as facilitator.”

Second, the IM and NNPG accepted a covenant of reconciliation with the IM in September, seven years after the FA. This would bring both groups on the same page. In October, the Forum for Naga Reconciliation organised more talks between the two groups on finding the common ground between the NNPG’s ‘agreed position’ and the IM’s demand for flag and constitution. Lt Gen VS Atem (retd) of the IM and NNPG coordinator Alezo Venuh led their teams. Meanwhile, a peace delegation led by Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio met Shah in September for the revival of talks between the IM and Centre. Talks with Mishra broke down in April after he allegedly deleted a three-point formulation agreed to by Ravi. Lt Gen Atem (retd) met Mishra, but what happened is unknown.

Third, the Eastern Naga People’s Organisation (ENPO), which has 20 members in the Nagaland Assembly, has sought a separate state. Its votaries say their demand will not affect the Naga national issue.

The Central Government wants a solution before the next Assembly elections in February 2023, which is highly unlikely. The Home Ministry’s annual report (2022) states that the IM was involved in 44 per cent of insurgency incidents which is a 45 per cent decline from incidents in 2020.

According to former Home Secretary GK Pillai, residual insurgencies, mainly in Manipur, share an umbilical cord with Nagaland. He says governance has been handled badly in the last two years, resulting in loss of credibility in Delhi. Some issues that Ravi had apparently messed up are being corrected by Mishra. The revocation of Article 370 has created fear among not only Nagas, but also other northeastern states governed by Article 371, a derivative of Article 370. The inordinate delay in the Supreme Court taking up revocation of Article 370 has further complicated the issue. Pillai says that without solving the Naga issue — the mother of insurgencies — peace is not possible in the northeast.

As a veteran, who as a young Captain set up military posts in Nagaland in 1959, three years after Naga insurgents shot down an IAF Dakota, one can endorse Pillai’s conviction. Sixty-six years on, a tenuous peace prevails, but negotiating with the IM to assimilate their demands within the constitution is a challenge, given that Kashmir’s flag and constitution have been nullified.